Like a Fish Denied a River (Hardback or Cased Book)

As a child, Jere Pfister would dig up her beloved pets and cry out to God, begging Him to bring them back to life. But death was not the only thing she feared. There was also the suffocating weight of secrets: secrets that kept the people she loved from living fully.

In this raw and unflinching memoir, Pfister takes readers on a deeply personal journey through a childhood shadowed by a church and a mother who both claimed to speak only the truth, yet built their foundations on lies. What begins as a child's desperate plea for resurrection becomes a woman's relentless quest for authenticity.

When confronted with the realization that she, too, was hiding behind laughter, masks, and the shame that had been planted in her heart, Pfister made a choice that would change everything. She began to write. She began to tell the truth.

From therapy sessions to stages, from intimate conversations with friends to encounters with renowned playwrights, Pfister courageously excavated the useless shame that had defined her for decades. But her journey toward authentic living began with the most important conversation of all: the one with her husband.

Like a Fish Denied a River is a testament to the transformative power of truth-telling and the courage required to live authentically in a world built on beautiful lies.

Jere Pfister is a writer, storyteller, and truth-seeker who has captivated audiences on stages and in art galleries across Houston, Okemos Michigan, and Kansas City. Raised in the Jim Crow South in New Orleans, her natural curiosity led her to question and ultimately reject the rules and customs of her birthplace-a rebellion that would become the foundation of her lifelong quest for authenticity.Pfister writes and tells stories of people and places where the tension of opposites collide: truth and lies, silence and revelation, shame and liberation. Her work explores the complex landscape of family secrets, religious hypocrisy, and the courage required to live authentically in a world built on beautiful deceptions.With an MFA in Theater from the University of Houston, Pfister brings both dramatic sensibility and raw honesty to her storytelling. *Like a Fish Denied a River* marks her transition from performing truth on stages to excavating it on the page-a deeply personal memoir that chronicles her journey from a child crying out to God over dead pets to a woman bold enough to tell her most difficult truths to audiences, therapists, friends, famous playwrights, and most importantly, to herself.